Todd Bishop at SeattlePI revealed the other day that Google was outed as the complainant in antitrust compliance proceedings against Microsoft. Apparently, the built-in indexing function of Windows Vista is causing system slowdown when used in conjunction with Google’s Desktop Search due to both programs indexing data simultaneously.

Google complains that Vista indexing needs a way to be turned off. Well, there is. Head into your control panel, select “Indexing Options”, click “Modify”, then “Show all locations”. After allowing UAC to continue, you’ll be presented with a list of items that Vista indexes. Feel free to clear all items and then Vista will have nothing to index. I haven’t toyed with disabling the Windows Search service, but that might be another option as well. Nothing is dependent on the service, but I love the indexing myself and won’t do without. A team of antitrust researchers had thoroughly combed over Vista’s desktop search feature prior to release and found no problems. The Justice Dept. dropped Google’s complaint, but several states are pursuing the matter anyway. Let’s waste more taxpayer dollars, please.

Of course, you could use Google Desktop Search and subject yourself to possible man in the middle takeovers. But why would you do that?

Update: I did some testing once this came to light, and you can disable the Windows Search Service without any ill effects that I’ve noticed the past few days. Click the Windows Logo, and type “Services” in the search box. Click on Services at the top of the search results. Once on the Services window, scroll down to “Windows Search”, right-click and select “Stop”. To disable it for good, right-click, select “Properties” and in the “Startup type” drop-down menu, select “Disabled”, then click OK.

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